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303. Chester Seymour
303. CHESTER8 SEYMOUR (Asa7, Asa6, Daniel5, Daniel4, John3, John2, Richard1), born at Hartford, Conn., 24 Dec. 1823, died at Simsbury, Conn., 3 Mar. 1895; married at Simsbury, 27 June 1849, SABRA THANKFUL ENSIGN, born at Simsbury, 18 Aug. 1826, died at Hartford, 15 Nov. 1901.
He was a carriage manufacturer in Simsbury, and afterwards retired to a farm on the Granby Road in East Granby. He represented Simsbury in the Conn. Legislature, 1858, and East Granby, 1868. He was an Episcopalian, and a Democrat in politics.
Seymour was gifted with a keen, active mind. and unusual energy of character. Naturally choleric and impulsive. he was at the same time generous, tender- hearted and unselfish. In 1873 he was smitten with a severe attack of meningitis, and for weeks hovered between life and death. For over twenty-two years of invalidism which resulted, he fought life's battle to the end in true man fashion. Brave, open and sincere in word and deed, he hated, with all the intensity of an intense nature, the dreary platitudes of religious cant, but genuine religious feeling found a large place in his heart. He loved little children, and their presence in his sick-room was never an annoyance to him; and they returned his affection. To the end, he maintained a keen interest in life, and in the persons and things about him.
| Children, four born at Simsbury, youngest at East Granby: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| i. | FRANKLIN CHESTER9, b. 17 May 1850; inventor and manufacturer; m. at St. Louis, Mich., 15 Nov. 1877, ELIZABETH REID CULBERTSON of Monongehela City, Pa. | ||
| Children: | |||
| I. | Mary Elizabeth10, b. 24 Oct. 1881. | ||
| II. | Gertrude, b. 11 Sept. 1883. | ||
| ii. | MARY FLORILLA, b. 26 Mar. 1852; d. at Hartford, 12 June 1934; m. at Simsbury, 11 Apr. 1882. JOSEPH Toy, b. at Camborne, Cornwall, England, d. at Simsbury, 2 Apr. 1887. She was author of two novels: When Summer Goes, and Lady Hamilton's Heredity. | ||
| Child: | |||
| 1. | Josephine Seymour10, b. 19 Jan. 1884, d. 20 July 1909; m. at Hartford, 5 June 1907, Fred Starr Collins; had one child, — Josephine Toy11, b. at Hartford, 5 July 1909. | ||
| iii. | MOSES ENSIGN, b. 2 Dec. 1856: d. at East Granby, 14 Feb. 1936; m. at Brooklyn. N.Y., 24 Apr. 1884, MARION BACKUS (sometimes spelled Marianne Bachaus, also Marian Barkhausen), b. at Bremen, Germany, 28 Apr. 1860, d. at the Hartford Hospital, 7 Aug. 1931. His life was spent in West Hartford and East Granby, where he was a dairyman and tobacco fanner, assessor, and Justice of the Peace. He accumulated considerable property, made three trips to Europe, and spent many winters in Florida. In politics, a Republican; in religion, an Episcopalian. He and his family were very prominent in Trinity Parish, Tariffville; at one time he was Senior Warden, his son, Edgar, Parish Treasurer, and his son Dudley, Delegate to Convention. | ||
| Children, first two born at West Hartford, others at East Granby: | |||
| I. | Clarence William10, b. 14 Mar. 1885; m. 1 July 1922, Dorothy Belle Allyn, b. at Hartford, 12 May 1889, dau. of Robert and lice Belle (Maine), and granddau. of Timothy Mather Allyn, Mayor of Hartford (1858-60), builder and owner of the Allyn House. | ||
| Child: | |||
| (1) | Allyn11, b. 17 May 1923. | ||
| II. | Helen Emma. b. 19 Dec. 1886: d. 21 July 1916, unm. | ||
| III. | Edgar Harold, b. 18 Apr. 1888. | ||
| IV. | Chester Arthur, b. 17 Feb. 1890: d. 17 Sept. 1890. | ||
| V. | Ann Margaret. b. 24 May 1891. | ||
| VI. | Percy Waldo, b. 7 Sept. 1893: 1st Lieut. in U.S. Army during the World War. | ||
| VII. | Richard Dudley, b. 18 June 1895; First Selectman of East Granby, 1934-35. | ||
| VIII. | Kenneth Marion. b. 11 May 1897; Manager of Newgate Prison and Newgate Hotel, East Granby, Conn.: m. at Copper Hill, East Granby. 24 Oct. 1929. Maida Louise Griffin. | ||
| Children: | |||
| (1) | Kenneth M.11, b. 29 Mar. 1931. | ||
| (2) | Shirley Maida, b. 21 Aug. 1932. | ||
| IX. | Roy Ensign. b. 28 May 1899. | ||
| X. | Marion Nellie, b. 5 Dec. 1902. | ||
| iv. | WILLIAM ALFRED, b. 9 Feb. 1860: m. at New Marlboro, Mass., 11 Nov. 1891, ELLA LOUISB RHOADES, b. at New Marlboro, 24 Mar. 1863. He lived during early life in St. Louis, Mich., and Wollaston, Mass. After 1900, he lived in East Granby, Conn., serving the town as First Selectman and Representative in the Legislature, and in Nov. 1934 he was elected High Sheriff for Hartford County for four years, on the Democratic ticket. | ||
| Children, born at Wollaston, Mass.: | |||
| I. | Chester Rhoades10. b. 11 June 1894; m. at Hartford, 3 Oct. 1923, Helen Roberts Tolles. b. at Hartford, 7 Nov. 1897. | ||
| Children, born at Hartford: | |||
| (1) Jean Tolles11, b. 3 Oct. 1925. | |||
| (2) Chester Tolles, b. 25 Sept. 1928 | |||
| II. | Dorothy Frances, b. 22 June 1896; m. at Simsbury, Conn., 21 Oct. 1922, C. Edgar Blake, attorney and ass't treasurer of Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co.; res. Windsor, Conn. | ||
| Child: | |||
| 1. | Richard Seymour, b. 23 Mar. 1926. | ||
| v. | LUCIUS HENRY. b. 20 May 1865; m. at Simsbury. 27 Apr. 1892. NELLIE LOUISE ST. JOHN, b. at Simsbury, 9 July 1870, dau. of Edward F. and Charlotte (Ashman); no issue. He was a tobacco grower, of East Granby, Conn. | ||
CLARENCE WILLIAM10 SEYMOUR moved with his parents from West Hartford to East Granby in 1889, where he attended the “Little Red School House” on the Tariffville-Granby Road. In 1903, he graduated from the Hartford Public High School as Class Orator. In 1907, after winning an election to the Scholarship Society of Phi Beta Kappa, and the Junior Society of Beta Theta Pi, he graduated from Yale College. In 1911, after winning several prizes for debating and public speaking, he received an LL.B. from the Yale Law School, and was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in June, 1911. Until 1927, he had an excellent law practice with the firm of Seymour, Parmelee and Carlson.
In 1920, he was elected a State Senator from the 1st Senatorial District in Hartford, Conn. In 1927, he represented West Hartford in the State Legislature and was a member of the Judiciary Committee. In 1930, he was the Republican nominee for Congress from the 1st Connecticut District, but was defeated by the Democratic landslide of that period.
In 1926 he purchased Old Newgate Prison in East Granby, Conn., and became President and Treasurer of the Newgate Historical Corporation, organized for the purpose of preserving this outstanding Connecticut ruin. In 1927, as President and Treasurer of the Allyn Theatre Corporation, he successfully managed the Allyn Theatre, a large picture and vaudeville house in Hartford, Conn., but sold out his interest and withdrew from this enterprise three years later. For several years he was a Director of the Capitol National Bank & Trost Co.
His military service covers a period of more than 21 years. On 14 Jan. 1914, he enlisted in Troop B of the Connecticut National Guard and spent 4 months with that organization on the Mexican Border in 1916. On 27 August 1917, after the entry of the United States into the World War. he was called into Federal service and received a commission as 1st Lieutenant of Artillery at the Plattsburg Training Camp, 27 Nov. 1917. Assigned at first to the Field Artillery Training Camp at Camp Stanley, Leon Spring, Texas, he was transferred to the 118th Field Artillery, 31st Division, at Camp Wheeler, and was appointed Judge Advocate of that brigade. He went to France with this outfit. He was promoted by President Wilson to Captain of Field Artillery in the Officers' Reserve Corp. on 24 March, 1919. On 10 July, 1923, he was appointed Major in the Judge Advocate General's Dept. of the Connecticut National Guard, and was promoted on 5 September 1923 to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and was assigned on 10 December 1924 to the Division Staff of the 43rd Division, National Guard. In 1922 he was elected State Commander of the American Legion in Connecticut.
In 1932 he was elected Governor of The Society of the Mayflower Descendants in the State of Connecticut, and served three years, and also has served as Governor of the Connecticut Society of the Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims. He is a member of the Veterans of the Foreign Wars, and has served as Commander in the Military Order of the World War.
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